


Logical

by Fangirlwriting



Series: Welcoming Arms [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But They're Both Doing Okay Now, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, Gen, Hug The Light Sides 2021, Hugs, Logic | Logan Sanders Needs a Hug, Morality | Patton Sanders Needs a Hug, Protective Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Touch-Starved, he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 20:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlwriting/pseuds/Fangirlwriting
Summary: No one is really sure how to breach this issue with Logan.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Welcoming Arms [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092758
Comments: 9
Kudos: 58





	Logical

Logan was a different kind of issue according to Patton and Roman. Virgil had had his suspicions that Logan might have been the one to start this problem when Patton had talked about how touch wasn’t necessary, unlike things such as food or water. Patton had seemed to accept that this was incorrect information when Virgil told him, and he had admitted a couple days later that he’d sort of always had his suspicions but didn’t want to bother anyone (which just made Virgil hug him again). Roman had accepted the idea when Virgil had brought it up a couple weeks after they’d started having movie nights, by which point he’d guessed it was something like that. But Logan…

Logan was stubborn. He didn’t like being wrong. Virgil knew this. But unlike Roman, he didn’t have the helpful override of never turning down someone in need. So he really wasn’t quite sure where to start with introducing the concept of casual touch to Logan. He didn’t want to do it without Logan’s consent, that wouldn’t help anything, and was just straight up rude. Sudden touch without asking with Remus and Janus was one thing, they were all used to it. Virgil had no idea how long it had been since someone had last touched Logan, and the fact that Patton and Roman didn’t seem to know either wasn’t exactly reassuring.

But Virgil screwed up in some way, because the end result ended up being Logan solving the problem for them, which was not ideal.

Movie nights had become common, as it was a setting in which Roman and Patton were both very comfortable with snuggling (which was Virgil’s favorite way to watch movies, so it was a win-win). Virgil had grown a new appreciation for cuddles since he started getting them from Patton and Roman. His appreciation might have also been increased a little more due to how long he had gone without cuddles, though it certainly hadn’t been nearly as long as Patton and Roman had. Virgil was remaining insistent on fixing that.

That night in particular they were watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, which they ended up watching more often than they probably would if he and Roman didn’t outnumber Patton with votes. The first scene had just finished when there came the sound of someone clearing their throat.

All three of them turned to face the entryway to see Logan standing there. Virgil sat up straighter when he noticed how small Logan looked standing there by himself.

“Pardon me, Virgil, I was wondering if you still had the book you borrowed? I was looking for something to do after I finished my work for the day.”

Virgil exchanged a glance with Patton, who nodded.

“It’s on my dresser,” Virgil said, looking back over. “But if you’re looking for something to do why don’t you come join us?”

Logan blinked in surprise. “I… suppose that would be fine,” he said. He walked into the living room and sat down on the nearby chair, which Virgil kind of expected he would. He looked back over at Patton, who shrugged with a bit of a lost look in his eyes.

Virgil sighed and leaned back against Patton’s side, since he was in the middle that night. Roman played the movie again and did the same.

Logan was clearly watching the movie closely, as he tended to do, so Virgil leaned over to whisper in Patton’s ear. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Patton whispered back. “I don’t know if he’d agree if we asked him to cuddle.”

Virgil sighed and looked over at Roman, who looked just as lost. “You three are impossible sometimes,” he muttered. “Why is it so hard for you to show affection?”

“Yes, well we hardly expected  _ you _ to be someone comfortable with showing affection,” Roman pointed out, also whispering.

“I’m not always,” Virgil admitted. “I don’t know, it was just… normal. Back home, I mean,” Virgil muttered, looking away now. “Deceit always told us how important it was for affection to be normalized. He would always go on lectures about how it helped with self esteem.”

“Deceit would say that?” Patton asked in surprise.

“Yes, I definitely expected that even less,” Roman said.

“Excuse me,” Logan called suddenly. “But why did you ask me to watch a movie with you three if you’re just going to whisper among yourselves the whole time? It’s not that I’m not used to being excluded from your movie nights, but this just seems like a waste of time for everyone.”

All three of them looked back over at Logan. “We’re not trying to waste any time,” Roman said. “We were just… talking about the movie.”

“Falsehood,” Logan said, rolling his eyes. “Why would you feel the need to whisper if you were doing that?”

“Logan,” Patton said hesitantly.

“Again, I am fine with being excluded from movie nights,” Logan continued. “In fact, I might prefer it if you are just going to whisper about unrelated things.”

“Logan, we don’t want to exclude you—” Virgil started.

But apparently that had been the wrong thing to say, because Logan stood up, suddenly looking very angry.  _ “Falsehood,” _ he insisted. “If you did not want to exclude me why am I the only one over here?”

“What— because you sat there,” Patton said hesitantly. “We wouldn’t have objected if you wanted to—”

“Yes, because it definitely follows that you wouldn’t have objected to me coming and sitting down in the middle of your hug when you don’t invite me to these things in the first place because you think I would be a terrible participant.”

No one else said anything for a few seconds.

“Lo, why would you think that?” Virgil asked quietly.

“What other conclusion can I come to? These movie nights started out with you and Patton being the only participants, and that lasted for a couple weeks before you then included Roman. It has been several months since then, clearly if you were going to include me by now you would have. It is fine,” Logan said before anyone could object. “I am not upset. I would not get upset about something so small. But if you don’t—”

“It’s not small,” Roman interrupted.

“Pardon?”

“It’s not  _ small,” _ Roman said. “It’s important.”

“Watching movies while you all hug on the couch is not something to hold in high importance,” Logan said in annoyance, as if this should be obvious.

Virgil shook his head and sat up, pulling away slightly from Patton. “Falsehood,” he said. “It is important.”

“It’s not—”

“Logan,” Virgil said, because he wasn’t going to hold this off a moment longer. “Do you know what touch-starvation is?”

Logan blinked a couple times, but didn’t say anything.

“Touch starvation refers to the longing for touch or physical contact from other living beings,” Virgil said, echoing the definition he’d found on Google. “It typically occurs when a person experiences little to no physical contact for a prolonged amount of time.”

Logan scoffed. “That is ridiculous. I do not  _ long _ for touch. Touch is not a need.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, buddy,” Virgil said, crossing his arms. “You know, I grew up getting hugs all the time. I assumed that you guys did the same kind of thing when I first got here. But the first time I hugged Patton he practically had a breakdown.”

He heard Patton sigh behind him, and made a note to apologize for blurting that out later, as that probably hadn’t been the best move. He just had to get through to Logan that this was serious.

“Symptoms of being touch starved can include stress, anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping and fatigue,” Virgil said. “Can you imagine how harmful it would be for me if I had to deal with something like that? I deal with a lot of that shit just from being Anxiety.”

“Language,” Patton said in the background.

“Sorry, Pat. Point is, it was absolutely critical for me and my own mental health to get regular touch growing up. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Logan nodded slowly.

“That doesn’t change with other sides,” Virgil said, crossing his arms. “Logically, that has to make sense to you too.”

Logan looked uncomfortable now, and Virgil sighed. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay to not know something, Lo. We weren’t trying to exclude you. I’m sorry we made you think that. We just weren’t sure how to tell you all this.”

Logan still didn’t say anything.

Virgil stood up and walked over to stand in front of Logan. “Can I hug you now?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Logan snapped instantly, glaring up at Virgil. “No, I don’t want—” He looked away.

“Hey, vulnerability is hard. Trust me, I get it.” Virgil thought for a moment. “How about instead, you can sit next to us and I can put my hand near yours, and you can hold it if you want to.”

“I don’t…” Logan crossed his arms.

“It’s… it’s okay, Specs,” Roman said from behind. Virgil turned around. “None of us knew about this. We aren’t going to make fun of you. I promise.”

“It’s really nice,” Patton said. “Hugs? They’re really nice.”

Logan was quiet for another moment, and then moved to sit down on the couch. He didn’t sit too close to anyone else, but when Virgil walked back over and sat down, Logan hesitantly held out his hand.

Virgil smiled as he took it. Well, that was a place to start. He wasn’t going to try and force Logan to move faster than at his own pace.

The four of them watched the rest of the movie without whispering, and Logan didn’t let go of Virgil’s hand the whole time.


End file.
